The Significance of Gate of Hell on Film/Music History inferred from Its Music by Yasushi Akutagawa

『地獄門』(衣笠貞之助, 1953年)は, 戦後日本映画の国際的躍進の端緒として, あるいは日本映画のカラー化の嚆矢として, 映画史上に一定の評価を得ている. しかし, この作品の映画史的・音楽史的重要性は芥川也寸志による音楽にも見出せる. そこで本稿は, 『地獄門』の音楽的特徴を, 同時代の映画音楽からの影響による共時的要素と, 芥川の後年の映画音楽にも存在する通時的要素に分けて指摘したのち, 『地獄門』の音楽と芥川の代表作<>が「モティーフの流用」という点で強い繋がりを持つことを示す. <>は, 芥川が團伊玖磨・黛敏郎と結成し音楽史に大きな足跡を遺した「3人の会」の初回演奏会で初演された. 興味深いことには, 同曲は『地獄門』と同時期に成立しただけなく, 同根の音楽動機を持っていることが確認できる. かくして, 従来『地獄門』を巡ってなされた議論からは導き出され得なかった視点, すなわち戦後日本音楽史との繋がりから作品の再評価を提示する.
As a landmark in Japanese cinema's overseas advance or as one of the earliest successful color motion pictures in Japan, Gate of Hell (dir. Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1953) has received a certain appreciation in the film history. However, its music composed by Yasushi Akutagawa has been overlooked. This essay firstly points out the characteristics of the music of Gate of Hell in both 'synchronic' features, that is, influences from other film music of the times, and 'diachronic' features which can be found in his later film music. Then I show how the music of Gate of Hell is strongly connected to his Prima Sinfonia (1954/55) in terms of the reutilization of motifs and the similarity of thematic. Prima Sinfonia was premiered at the first concert by San-nin no Kai (「3人の会」). Sannin no Kai, a collective formed by three composers, Akutagawa, Ikuma Dan, and Toshiro Mayuzumi in 1953, left big marks on post war Japanese music culture. What's interesting is that both Prima Sinfonia and the music of Gate of Hell, composed around almost same time, use the same motif. Thus this essay reevaluates Gate of Hell from a viewpoint of the connection with the history of music in post war Japan which has been scarcely mentioned by former studies.